Three West Michigan Patients Receive Heart Transplants
Three additional West Michigan residents received new hearts in the past week at the Spectrum Health Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center. Hospital officials said they are doing well and progressing as expected.
The transplant team headed by cardiothoracic surgeon Asghar Khaghani, M.D., performed transplants on Dec. 29, Jan. 2 and Jan. 3. The recipients are two males, ages 52 and 63, and the first woman to receive a heart transplant at Spectrum Health, age 57.
"I was not expecting three transplants within a week but I'm happy for our patients and pleased with how the program is performing," said Khaghani. "The operations went smoothly and it was good to see how well the team came together during this period."
All the patients previously received ventricular assist devices to help their hearts pump enough blood to sustain them until transplant surgery. Two of the patients had their devices implanted at Spectrum Health.
This brings the total of transplants performed through the Richard DeVos Heart & Lung Transplant Program to four. The first transplant was performed Nov. 27. Program leaders hope to perform approximately 12 transplants in the first year of the program.
Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan that offers a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, a collection of nine hospitals and more than 170 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group and West Michigan Heart, totaling more than 600 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with 600,000 members. Spectrum Health's 16,700 employees, 1,500 medical staff members and 2,350 volunteers are committed to delivering the highest quality care.
